Emergency stops USAF F-16 Viper display at RIAT 2019

The first display aircraft of the Royal International Air Tattoo Sunday program was the dynamic F-16 Viper display which was short lived as only a few minutes into the display an emergency was called, the display ceased and the pilot climbing higher to circle while assessing the issue. An over fly inspection of the aircraft by those on the ground and then a safe landing revealed what appeared to be damage to the right component of the elevator (to be confirmed as more details appear).
#RIAT2019
#F16Viperdisplay
#NigelWoolleyAviation

[@NigelWoolleyaviation]

Check the 1/72 premium diecast scale model of a USAF F-16D Fighting Falcon airmodels.net/premium/328-f-16d-fighting-falcon-usaf-56th-fw-spikes.html?aff=66

[@andywhite40]

Thanks Nigel for sorting out why the display was truncated, it was a real shame as the pilot was shaping up to deliver an awesome display. I bet he was cursing his bad luck!

[@magicmonkeyist]

Watched this on the Saturday. Can't say I'm surprised after seeing how hard this thing is pushed during the display. Awesome bit of kit. Old but gold!

[@cofrbooboo]

I was thinking just how capable the F-16 is for as old a design as it is.

[@tou5417]

Tarasdad it’s just an engine with wings

[@airgliderz]

It was not pushed anywhere past its max capabilites.

[@magicmonkeyist]

@@airgliderz True, but the old girl doesn't half take some stick!

[@catsfive]

I've never seen an emergency landing, so, from an audience perspective, I'd be like, WOW, WHAT A GREAT DEMO THAT WAS, I've never seen a ground inspection of damage before landing!

[@matt-a-hew5089]

That was me, I was on the flight line too in front of the ropes keeping fod and people off the runway and behind the rope 😮

[@slappymcgillicuddy7532]

During the lightweight Fighter Competition of 1972 the 2 competing aircraft bore vaguely snakelike appearances and were named "Viper" (General Dynamics YF-16) and "Cobra." (Northrop YF-17) However the USAF came out with the name "Fighting Falcon" to christen the eventual winner, the F-16. The F-16 pilots and maintainers didn't like the official "Fighting Falcon" name, so much like the A-10 community chose to refer to the A-10 as the Warthog or "Hawg" over the official "Thunderbolt II", the F-16 community gave their aircraft their own name of "Viper" because the aircraft resembles the Viper from Battlestar Galactica among other reasons. You will not hear anyone in the F-16 community refer to it as the Fighting Falcon.

[@christophernewman5027]

"Tell you what, guys. While it's in, would you change the cambelt as well?"

[@SpeedingTube]

I did wonder what happened, thanks for posting Nigel.

[@simageorge63]

The right stabilator delaminated

[@SpeedingTube]

@@simageorge63 Cheers bud, I saw that in the video 😎👍

[@mikhailfong6234]

Awesome safe. Thanks, Nigel for showing us. Great piloting... beautiful plane as always...love the f16....simple yet fearsome

[@SB-tp3yw]

Flew right over our heads at totterdown hill park and view, nice and low, glad it got down safe and that was a fine landing 👌🏼

[@VeemaMusic]

I was down at flyby, glad he managed to keep control.

[@samwise7538]

Better than his actual landing on Saturday lol

[@davidboyd6523]

Well that's the first time I've seen a falcon delaminate its tail feathers! More than likely fatigue! Thankfully the rest of it didn't come off!

[@NigelWoolleyaviation]

Definitely thankful the damage didn't continue to increase otherwise a serious lack of control might had led to an exit from the aircraft.

[@todayintheshopbanksy5904]

De-lam of the carbon fibre. CF doesn't fatigue like metal, but can degrade via UV or chemicals

[@mindabsence]

@@todayintheshopbanksy5904 Don't believe there's any carbon fibre in use on an F-16. Do you have a source that those fins are in fact CF?

[@Just-an-ordinary-average-guy]

The skins of the stabilizers are composite. There are other components made of composite materials as well.

[@chadmurfin188]

@@mindabsence I was a crew chief on f16s for 20 yrs and a10s for 6 yrs. yes the stabs are carbon fiber composite. so are the flaperons, le flaps, and tail. lots of carbon fiber , if parts fail or acft crashes, all carbon fiber composite parts go to Wright Patterson for inspection and permanent storage.

[@e36s50b30]

Holy crap, that’s some serious delam right there!

[@DSROBB]

Great footage and thanks for sharing. Delamination issue. I was at the show but didn't see or hear what the issue was, so great to see this footage.

[@jgrlima1]

Outstanding footage Nigel. Its a shame you didnt heard about the damaged stab earlier, otherwise you could zoom in a little bit more. Many tanks for the video. Liked and subscribed.

[@manondumouchel5298]

Oh! I hope the pilot is well.. you had to made a nice job Sir.. that’s beautiful, Thanks for the post

[@insanelewis21]

We were standing in the fields at the far end of the runway near the campsites and on finals. There was no sign of the damaged elevator when he started the high speed pass, no cause was mentioned on the radio either. He was offered the chance to divert to Mildenhall. When he did finally land it looked like the ellevator was flapping, like it was loose. Been an eventful 2 days with the French cancelling their display with one of the alphas having a bird strike yesterday

[@NigelWoolleyaviation]

There were several similar comments of flapping components as you described from nearby photographers. Yes eventful plus quite a few aircraft going tech too.

[@JonnyGR4]

Divert to Mildenhall? 130 miles when he declared an emergency? Seems strange when Brize is next door. 🤔

[@railwayman100]

@@NigelWoolleyaviation Concur. I was in the FRIAT enclosure also (Tower end). Aplha pilot reported right side engine failure only, no mention of bird strike nor saw a bird strike.

[@koitorob]

@@railwayman100 " right side engine failure ?" On a single engine jet?

[@railwayman100]

@@koitorob Yes on an Alphajet aircraft. These comments are talking about the F16 that suffered elevator damage on the right side that occured whilst climbing up at full throttle. Pilot flew passed at low level abd speed so technical staff could have a good look where the damage was then was cleared to land and removed for repairs.

[@lawrencemartin1113]

Along with all the thousands of other people who witnessed this incident, I was there with my son that day. We were right on the crowd line when this happened. It was excellent to see all the photographers taking digital close ups of the damage as the aircraft did the inspection fly by and sending them straight to people in the tower to help them assess what decisions to make. The option to return to another base away from the airshow was given, along with a possible ejection plan should it have become more serious. However, luckily the handling was assessed for an approach and recovery to Fairford's runway, so that is what happened. All very interesting and exciting, but so happy it wasn't more serious!! A highly unusual set of circumstances to have a failure of that nature.....although, he was tanking it!!!

[@NigelWoolleyaviation]

Hi Lawrence. Not something that we regularly see at air shows and that F-16was certainly tanking it! Saturdays F-16 dodgy take off wouldn't have helped the structure of the Viper either! kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKfPqaaXnsR9rq8

[@lawrencemartin1113]

@@NigelWoolleyaviation Oh wow!! That really was a bit of a rough takeoff!! I had not been aware of that as we were only there for the Sunday. Thanks so much for linking that to me. Really interesting and I am sure that aircraft was getting some serious stresses in both displays. They should be almost unbreakable, but who knows what tiny delaminations of that honeycomb structure may have been undetected for a long time...Looking forward to being there again this year!

[@stevekemp3842]

Thanks for great detailed video Nigel,such a shame to not see full display,but main priority is all was good and pilot and aircraft safely down,cheers...

[@MANAviationHD]

Great video Nigel!

[@bloodswettears234]

Blimey that looked shredded

[@bigone520]

That pull up with full burn over totterdown camp site WOW fantastic.. such a shame it broke that was going be a great display aswel ..

[@SB-tp3yw]

mick goodman shame most of the other displays didn’t get nearly as close to us at totterdown! Harriers were a let down :(

[@MrTrickster90]

Straight over field 4 it was awesome y

[@stevekemp3842]

Yeh was on Totterdown campsite,I was gutted it was cut short,but safety comes first, but would have been an awesome display..

[@MrChevyman962000]

We've been trying to reach you about your aircraft's extended warranty...

[@NesconProductions]

Got that call just last week.. please stop! :-P

[@BrandonOuzts]

Already played out my friend

[@bobdyer422]

I hope he had his extended warranty plan, or it'll be $$$$!

[@Airguardian]

It broke! lol Glad no one got hurt!

[@jetfuelboy]

Great catch Nigel, nice video.

[@raljix1566]

Probably a failure due to stress, right? Some crazy forces going on there......

[@kd4pba]

That and it seems as if it happened after that high speed pass and climb out. Seemed a bit fast for that altitude based on other performances I have seen. It always seems like demo's with the F16 involve the pilot trying to break the air-frame.

[@XxGhostR3c0nsxX]

One Bad Ass Fighter Jet !!

[@mikerice5298]

3 UFOs VS 10 F-16 jan 8 2008 in TX

[@TokyoxKitsune]

2:06 the after burner doesn’t look too good

[@dbmdc500]

Nice Capture✈

[@sski]

Graphite epoxy de-laminates somewhat when it encounters a foreign object at high speed, such as a bird, which is what I heard was the case here. The elevator's outer skin is constructed of this material.

[@1stviper589]

Actually a lot of the 16 skin is G-epoxy. A quick story when I was in Korea one of our F16 got too close to a marine F4 that wasn't turning that fast and they hit wings and it snapped the wing off of 16 which tumble to the ground, but pilot got out meanwhile the F4 ,all metal came back landed at kunsan. Marine showed up and they cut apart every aluminum can you can imagine flatten them out and pop rivet it over probably 300 holes in the side of that at 4 because the F16 epoxy Wing exploded and look like put shotgun blast all thru that f4, but they got that thing patched up and out of there and look like a flying billboard just crazy

[@sski]

@@1stviper589 Damn! Thanks for relating that. I miss the F4's. I'm not a big fan of the plastic jets.

[@1stviper589]

@@sski if I ever find that Marine F4 picture from the Collision in Korea, I'll have to figure out a way to post it to show you ..you would simply be amazed, they took what they could scrounge which was every Budweiser Coke Pepsi Mountain Dew,etc.,Can they could find, flatten them and riveted them to that bird in the hanger next to us. the Marines hammering and banging and knocking on that thing for 2 and 1/2 days fixing things and when it rolled out it look like a billboard ,impressive ,beat up, but it did fly home

[@sski]

@@1stviper589 Incredible! That I have got to see.

[@1stviper589]

@@sski I'll tell you what would really trip you out ,was when I got over there in the early 80s, the South Korean air force was still flying f-86 Sabre!!!, They were starting the transition to F16s...what a Quantum Leap in jet tech

[@TheRedSparrowYT]

Hi Nigel, nice footage! May I use the clip of the take off for approximately 5 seconds worth of footage near the beginning of a video that i'm editing? Let me know as soon as you can. Thanks!

[@NigelWoolleyaviation]

The Red Sparrows five seconds sounds ok and if there is an opportunity for a small form of credit that helps me too. Thank you for asking too rather than what too many people do. Cheers.

[@TheRedSparrowYT]

@@NigelWoolleyaviation Thanks!

[@peterrobshaw]

Another great video Nigel. I bet all the other F16 pilots were quick to take a look.

[@Denbig.]

Not enough superglue.

[@fredMplanenut]

After Saturdays take off over stress (big whoops), I wasn't surprised to hear there is a suspicion of overstressed control surfaces.

[@fredMplanenut]

@The94GTC No visual of one, and no debris.

[@fredMplanenut]

The trailing edge of the starboard elevon breaks whilst in a tight 360º - yup, it's "designed to do that".

[@vanswofford4469]

That's not damage. Those are speed brakes, and there is a pair on both left and right horizontal stabilizers. They apparently popped open without being commanded to do so, and stayed open. No harm to the flyability of the airplane, but the speed needed to be dropped to below the maximum for deploying the speed brakes, followed by a landing to correct the problem.

[@Shashman82]

Mate, most of us watching this video know what Viper speed brakes look like. Can you not see that the trailing edge of the elevator is all shredded? You can even see the green primer coat.

[@airgliderz]

Obviously you can't see the ragged fluttering damage ciculed in bright red on the right aft edge of the elevator.

[@Nialletto]

How embarrassing for airframe fatigue to become so obvious in front of the world's media...

[@geordie_mech]

How embarrassing to make such a stupid comment

[@simageorge63]

many people call the stabilators, slabs.

[@koitorob]

@@simageorge63 sTabs

[@simageorge63]

The right stabilator delaminated

[@thomassheehan1587]

Watching it there today got a few pics of its low pass

[@cptVLK]

Left down corner at (2:08) on the screen, check the "small light" which is then flying further also through the clouds until it totally disappeared in the clouds ;)

[@olifletcher4248]

What the fuck dude. I've slowed it down and seen some shit right there wtf

[@cptVLK]

@Gage Slow down the video at (1:45) you see over the F-16 some "light structures" like lightning, due the damage I think he was hit by lightning, because there are special discharge tubes on elevator of F-16 (and on every airplane) used for discharge static electricity from the wings :)

[@mikemontgomery2654]

I was there for this show. That's the third incident involving an F-16 I've witnessed in person.

[@NigelWoolleyaviation]

That's not good. What were the other two incidents?

[@mikemontgomery2654]

@@NigelWoolleyaviation The first two were at Cold Lake for exercise Maple Flag, separate years. First being a Dutch F-16, not sure what happened. Second was a USAF aggressor, had a bird strike after takeoff, returned to the field after a fuel burn off.

[@NigelWoolleyaviation]

Thanks Mike. Hopefully you're not banned from attending any events involving F-16s !

[@mikemontgomery2654]

@@NigelWoolleyaviation Haha! Too true. I thought the same thing myself when this happened.

[@spinynorman887]

Yeah....good call. You kinda sorta want to have those primary control surfaces in good working order.

[@Yosemite-George-61]

...I wonder how the pilot noticed... vibrations ? Saw it in the mirrors? Is an electric jet, can't feel the control surfaces...

[@TheJakusMaxus]

Jorge Picabea he reported vibrations during his display so stopped and tried to assess the situation while circling

[@matthewsutton5946]

Material de-lamination of the right rear stabilizer. I could be wrong but I think it started during the first turn right after liftoff at approximately 0:14 a small dark object looks like it separated from the aircraft in the same area

[@Electrodium]

I believe that's just an insect

[@patrickpersson10]

Matthew Sutton that’s what I thought too. If you slow down the play back to .25x speed it looks like a bird or something in the perfect place to appear like a piece is falling off

[@dankuettel5063]

Its hard to pinpoint but I think you can see something falling away from the jet in the beginning of the high speed pass.

[@tflahant]

I thought that but on slow speed I just think it's the bugs you see in various parts of the vid. It looked to me like his speed brakes were out the whole time ???

[@NigelWoolleyaviation]

Certainly could be considering the speed of the pass.

[@Streaky100001]

@techy Las No, his airbrakes aren't out the whole time. I think what you're seeing is actually the strakes under the belly that are there to enhance stability of the airframe. If you see them at the right angle though they do kinda look like the lower part of the airbrake.

[@AlexCusden]

I took photos of him during the high speed pass and the hstab was still intact

[@tflahant]

@@Streaky100001 = cheers for the clarification mate 👍

[@AlexCusden]

i remember seeing him begin the reposition after the high speed pass, instead of continuing the turn to the show line he stopped turning and into a climb, at that point i knew that something was wrong

[@OldGeorgiaDog]

If you can break an F-16, you are pulling some serious g.

[@dominiqueroudier9401]

At Good place and Good time. Friendly from South of France BZR-LFMU Dominique 🙋. Fine vidéo mate

[@MasterCarguy44-pk2dq]

Airplanes in general cost 5xmore than cars. An singke engine Cessna Airplane spark plug is $30-40/ea , alteenator $700. Its crazy.

[@email4664]

On the flip side of that, I bought my Navion for less than a Prius (roach of a car) would cost

[@paulglennon6095]

Safety is $xpensive

[@EleanorPeterson]

@@paulglennon6095 - Yep. Those oily-turny-sparky bits just gotta keep on keepin' on! Not too much hassle if your car alternator dies on the motorway: check the mirror, signal left (hey, I'm in England), pull onto the hard shoulder and wait for some weird hitch-hiker guy to creep up and cut your throat. No biggie. But if your Lycoming dies at 8,000 feet, you really don't need a psycho killer to spoil your day. ;-)

[@LRRPFco52]

The F-16 uses stabilators, not elevators. A stabilator is one-piece for supersonic flight, whereas most subsonic aircraft use elevators mounted within the stabilizer.

[@RobinOConnell0455]

Looks like a job for machine shop to come out and re-laminate and all will be fine for the next go. Probably just a stress fracture on the stab trailing edge and was not noticed on preflight. The speed brakes have nothing to do with the stabs and were used only to slow the aircraft as needed.

[@warrenwilson6345]

Robin O'Connell nope, with that damage it would have to be replaced and sent to a contractor or Depot for repair

[@Mors_Inimicis]

Bet the CO of the 480th FS was pissed when the ACC Viper Demo broke his jet 😂

[@keyhole9601]

Material fatigue??

[@markscarisbrick1534]

Was this on the Friday? Cheers.

[@NigelWoolleyaviation]

Sunday.

[@phuketexplorer]

Should have checked for woodworm before it took off.

[@giannisgiannis870]

Hellas will have these nice airplanes.

[@tomdarco2223]

Amazing

[@darkedge8735]

Would really love to know what caused the damage though.

[@anthonystewart677]

Mig 21 sneaked up behind it.

[@darkedge8735]

@@anthonystewart677 well rip

[@airgliderz]

Bad part made during Obama cutback days...

[@Broadsword999]

I was there Sunday, weird spot for a bird-strike on the trailing edge.

[@darkedge8735]

yeah sure it was...

[@tbdonnelly]

If you look the speed brakes are stuck open

[@cptVLK]

Slow down the video at (1:45) you see over the F-16 some "light structures" like lightning, due the damage I think he was hit by lightning, because there are special discharge tubes on elevator of F-16 (and on every airplane) used for discharge static electricity from the wings :)

[@jrftworth]

There was no lightening

[@1stviper589]

Yes it burns and even melts those black static dischargers that protrude from the back of the Wings and we seen many of them get melted, I've seen holes get burned through Wings by lightning

[@1stviper589]

I don't know if there was any lightning or not in this video but the seven people at Clearwater Beach Florida yesterday said oh there's no lightning guess what all seven of them got hit one of them critical condition right now

[@shropshire1233]

Terry Duffield I was there, trust me there was no lightning. It was a typical British summers day - grey and overcast!

[@anthonypeirce5875]

hi nigel great smooth video when panning and tilting your stabilisation is very good how do you keep it so smooth with no wobbly footage idid some filming my self at RIAT with great manfrotto video head and tripod camcorder i use panasonic hcx1 i film well but cant not keep it steady when useing optical zoom

[@NigelWoolleyaviation]

Anthony Peirce hi Anthony. Videoing aircraft is a ridiculous challenge at times and especially fast jets. I delete a proportion of my footage ha. I’m guilty of early footage being super wobbly so time and experience will certainly make progress. I don’t use a tripod and try to lock my arms to pan with torso hip or leg movements reducing shakes from hands and arms. Hopefully that makes some sense!

[@anthonypeirce5875]

ok thankyou nigel amazing smoothness by hand allso is there any powerfull stabilising software out there

[@ashthehellhxund]

It was a bird strike. I was a cadet working there.

[@nyandyn]

How does a bird strike the trailing edge of the stabilator?

[@ashthehellhxund]

@@nyandyn good question. Probably caught it on a turn or something. I was told by my Flight Lieutenant.

[@dsl996]

There was no bird strike...

[@dsl996]

Your flt lt is talking rubbish unfortunately. This was a structural failure. A bird strike would be very unlikey to cause trailing edge only damage

[@ashthehellhxund]

@@dsl996 wouldn't surprise me if she was tbh 😂😂😂👍

[@louisvanrijn3964]

This could be sonic induced fatigue. You are as close as you can be to the hell hole. How many dba, 180?

[@deanwallis6962]

I wonder what the problem was thank you👍

[@cf6282]

Dean Wallis Righthand elevator training edge had damage. I saw close up pictures.

[@irvan36mm]

3:10

[@Hardballleather]

In America we fly so fast our planes come apart!! #MURICA 🔥🔥🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🔥

[@somechanel]

is it still under warranty!?

[@umami0247]

And to think this thing couldn’t get off the ground without the computer let alone fly. Still a great little fighter and I’m glad we built it.

[@Jimbo-in-Thailand]

@scott stutzman - A really really stupid comment, especially the "Still a great little fighter" bit. The ahead of its time fly-by-wire control system taming its intentionally inherently-unstable (aft center-of-gravity) design is what has made the Fighting Falcon/Viper such an incredibly maneuverable and successful fighter jet-and still formidable after 40 years in service! In the future please think before making such brainless comments. 🙄🙄🙄🙄

[@umami0247]

I’m stating a fact there’s nothing stupid about it. This plane can’t fly without the computer again a fact which by the way controls the fly by wire system on this plane again a fact so it can stay airborne. And yes it’s a great fighter jet again a fact. I’d take one of these over any foreign aircraft period and you guessed it a fact.

[@lhw.iAviation]

What caused that damage?

[@tonyHern865]

does the approach in F16 supposed to be full airbrakes out (2:16) ?

[@Planehazza]

Yes: they fully open to 17 degrees* with the gear up, but when the gear comes down, they automatically retract a little to 13 degrees* to prevent them striking the ground on touch down. Brakes fully open is normal procedure for Viper landings. The pilot can override this limit by holding the spring loaded speedbrake switch to the open position, but as soon as he lets go they will close back to 13 degrees* when the gear is down. * I need to verify the exact angle they open to.

[@warrenwilson6345]

The speed breaks can fully open in flight (I don’t remember what degree fully open is) when the weight on wheel switch in the main landing gear are depress from a landing they are limited (close to a preset degree, the max when on the ground )so that the surface doesn’t not get damaged.

[@warrenwilson6345]

Gage there are special rivets that are at the trailing edge and they can not be loose. It is a carded item to inspect after flight. If enough are loose Delamination is possible in flight. I read from another poster that it was a bird strike

[@warrenwilson6345]

Gage I’m sure I worked on block 25 and block 50 F16s and I have done these ops checks

[@warrenwilson6345]

Gage now with the F15, the faster it goes the less deflection the with the ailerons will have. So the slower it goes it will have more of a 1to1 movement

[@jectorlam1480]

How it was damaged??

[@robertlassiter5808]

In the USAF we called them speed brakes. They were used to slow down with, not just for emergencies.

[@michaelchristensen6884]

The trailing edge of the starboard stabilizer is damaged.

[@MasterCarguy44-pk2dq]

Basically false misleading report on google, as usual. Way too much BS going to the public. Life was better, far less stressful without Internet. News was 90% REAL and accurate, now its 85% fake or false.

[@a-hvlogs2046]

His tail hook never came out

[@Rob-vv5yn]

pity looked like the beginnings of a decent flight, looked like it just peeled off the trailing edge. Anyone here a buzz - or high speed flutter ????

[@robbieeverton4686]

I was there and yes I definalty heared something different..I attend every year and you get used to the noises but this was weird. I'm trying to think how I can best describe. At first I thought it took a bird in because the afterburner made like a stuttering noise but I guess it was just a mix of afterburner and vibration noise. I knew something had gone wrong as soon as I seen him pull out and up into the clouds.

[@MrBrowne86]

Concrete warranty.

[@raymondgoubet]

First time an F16 behaves like a Ferrari!!!

[@cpt.cinnamon5654]

The f16 is the best fighter in the sky,even the f22 is not as good,to low of availability rates,a plane is not a weapon until it gets in the air,so at 30 percent availability rate on a good the the f35 and f22 are absolute garbage

[@goingtoscotland]

@@cpt.cinnamon5654 you should probably change your name to Cpt. Off Topic

[@cpt.cinnamon5654]

@@goingtoscotland its a f16 video so the topic is f16

[@tracybeme1597]

At take-off, it appears a static wick was ordered to detached duty.

[@rederos8079]

Why did it get damaged?

[@TheJer1963]

Bird strike.

[@dsl996]

@@TheJer1963 wasn't a bird strike...

[@rederos8079]

Isn't it hard to damage only back side by bird strike?

[@dsl996]

@@rederos8079 correct

[@airpockit6933]

hunch: flutter induced by overstress > delamination? - looks like both stabs were damaged? dunno.

[@MrPonca77]

Delamination .Stab change ,2 to 3 hours max downtime

[@Rob-vv5yn]

Delamination caused by what exactly, if it was flutter

[@Helibeaver]

@Stool Posts because of the civilians?

[@danf16dcc38]

@Stool Posts great QA is here. Lol.

[@001-j7l]

@Stool Posts did they ever suffer from water ingress?

[@f1620mm]

Dan f16 dcc Yup, good ole QA. What does QA stand for again?

[@ybrik5937]

Any update on this damage? Is it back in the skies?

[@jrftworth]

Not yet, awaiting repairs or replacement horizontal stabilizer

[@Meyblc70]

You don't repair that. That is a Stab change. Once the new stab arrives, takes a few hours.

[@Gio18x]

what is that light? min 02:08 to 02:12 see it in 0.25

[@mrjerry2296]

Gio bird

[@Sober_Alcoholic]

Sooo....how many had to piss in a cup for that? lmao

[@billmullins6833]

They had to wait a while to get the pilot's sample. His went into his flight suit.

[@johnosbourn4312]

So, what was the emergency?

[@guydavies3035]

US build quality....

[@patrickpersson10]

John Osbourn if your primary flight surfaces start to delaminate it weakens the whole surface and could possibly fail causing the jet to go out of control and crash. Any time you have damages to your flight controls you’re trained to get down as soon as possible.

[@johnosbourn4312]

Hey, thanks for answering my question.

[@MrEddieG420]

The damage was to the tail not the elevator... he must have hit a bird with that control surface cause no way in hell that manoeuvring over Stressed the airframe and ripped the trailing edge of the tail off... that’s impact damage. The pilot will tell you tell you the plane felt fine because of its digital flyby wire... that plane can fly missing half of both wings....

[@railwayman100]

Are you watching the correct video? cos it sure looks like it was the rear right stabilator, not the tail. If it had been the tail, the aircraft would've crashed.....I should know.......I WAS THERE for the 5 1/2 days

[@MrEddieG420]

@@railwayman100 just cause you were there dont mean you know a god damn thing... R U that jets crew chief ?

[@railwayman100]

@@MrEddieG420 oh ok so along with the thousands of other spectators seeing the problem thru there long range camera lenses and clearly evident in this video, reporting the problem to the commentary team via twitter to the F16 Viper demo team with the pilot also reporting issues with his controls heard on scanners are talking BS? ok...you stick to what you believe and the rest sticking to what we all ACTUALLY saw.

[@michaelhughes3302]

@@MrEddieG420 Gosh darn it Eddie. How many times do we have to tell you? That's the stabilizer not the tail section. Oh and Ed, God doesn't exist anymore. He hasn't since you were about 12. Along with Santa and the Tooth fairy!

[@Broadsword999]

I was at RIAT Sunday. The announcer told the crowd that the pilot was experiencing unexpected vibration which is why he went high to get a feel for it. I think he was right not to divert as he had no idea what the problem was and it is a long way to Mildenhall which was the nearest base with an arrestor or to divert to Brize Norton which was the closest base handling emergencies. He had no idea if bits of aircraft were going to fall off.

[@LuisFelipy]

Gremlins attack. Or termites

[@Nbx1.1]

USAF Viper F-16 delaminating Team

[@mikerice5298]

USAF we wasn't out that night jan 8 2008 in TX

[@Aziz-zk2vp]

Terbaik la

[@erwinmaes780]

Why is the thing flying around at 2:12 ?

[@markbrooks2159]

Hope everybody on the ground wasn’t hit by flying debris 👍👍other than that what a nice performance.

[@norms3913]

The F-16 is a falcon not a viper

[@1stviper589]

Actually it goes by both, General Dynamics has signed the name Fighting Falcon. The pilots have chosen the name Viper. They're the ones who have risked their lives in the aircraft for nearly 40 years and done an outstanding job and the title fits and they all love it so it's stuck

[@JC-zw6rq]

I believe its about the name of the Variant. The F-16 in its base model, is named as the Fighting Falcon, the latest variant , the F-16V, is called Viper, because well, the of "V" variant designation.

[@TheF16fan]

@@JC-zw6rq thats wrong. Viper was the name given to the aircraft by the pilots even befor it got its official name Fighting Falcon

[@1stviper589]

@@TheF16fan just so you know the pilots didn't give it the name Viper before Fighting Falcon because there were NO Pilots before then only, General Dynamics test pilot,the official General Dynamics name was and still is Fighting Falcon whether you like it or not, trust me I know I worked on the very first ones that came off the assembly line and they were called Falcons not vipers but I do like the Viper name better and so do the pilots who now fly then who gave it that name

[@1stviper589]

@@JC-zw6rq interesting observation, some people would even look at it and think it's a Roman numeral V. Actually you're pretty well on track it just depends on who you talk to, or what you read ,because while new aircraft being produced will come out under this designation V, the Unofficial name of Viper can be assigned to that letter V but the variance are also being produced for other International countries with upgrades of theirs (and our) current block 20 through 50 aircraft which would technically make them a variant. Interestingly the f-16s that Korea had because I served over there, were designated KF - 16 so once upgraded they'll be a "V" model also

[@1RemotePilot]

0:43 Bird strike?

[@1RemotePilot]

0:44 .25 speed. ;-)

[@1stviper589]

Probably not a bird for a couple of reasons number one they're going to hit the Leading Edge or get sucked in the intake or bounce off the canopy ,they rarely will cause trailing-edge damage. Also when you have areas where bird migrate, hangout or tend to penetrate an airspace ,often times a crew will go out like they did at our base and chase them off ,not kill em just, set off loud noises before flying to help birds move on, so they don't get hurt and neither do the pilot ,plane or other people

[@1stviper589]

You'll love this. I know this sounds crazy but early on in the F16 program because we were basically the only aircraft with a totally clear ONE piece canopy, as opposed to every other aircraft that has a two piece canopy,They would fire Frozen chickens from a cannon at the lexan polymer canopy to see how it would stand up to a bird strike!!! I told you this sounded crazy but it is the truth, and somewhere we're going to find video on this because when that frozen chicken would hit that canopy (that was bolted down)and I don't know at what speed ,but that canopy would literally WARP and throw that frozen chicken and its force of the impact angularly away from it and not crack.it was just ridiculously unbelievable but it did happen

[@dsl996]

That was the top of the tail not a bird

[@gazza2933]

Birdstrike?

[@NigelWoolleyaviation]

Would be no suprise.......although it seems most of the damage is on the trailing edge of the elevator (which still could be a bird strike when the elevator is angled up in one of the turns or climbs).

[@Tom_Hadler]

Triplex 29 Birdstrike on the trailing edge?

[@robertocarlosochoas9609]

Not big deal"

[@Me-yh4uc]

Those pieces move independently of the horizontal stabilizer. Speed brakes. Stabilize a spin?? Ok geniuses. Look it up. Those are speed brakes.

[@joelk.3917]

Look at the trailing edge of the right stabilizer...all shredded and delaminated. Green primer paint is exposed. It has nothing to do with the speed brakes

[@MasterCarguy44-pk2dq]

Major Schmidt told the tower had damage to the "arrestor hook"? Who ever the idiot is that wrote this should know F16's do not land on carriers and do not have hooks. Only Navy and Marine aircraft.

[@BazingaTing]

Today you're learning something new....that idiot is spot on. F16's do have a small tail hook between the lower rear stabilizers .....

[@chinook9421]

Haha, have a quick Google bud

[@stevebuckley7292]

Hate to tell you this, but they do have Arrestor hooks, same as F-15's, which neither the Marines or Navy Fly

[@MasterCarguy44-pk2dq]

@@stevebuckley7292 I take it you worked on the flight line like I did 20 years?

[@stevebuckley7292]

No Mate, i haven't, but i have seen them use the hooks when making an Emergency Landing, admittedly more so F-15's than 16's as we haven't got any based around here, but an F-16 arrived at Lakenheath yesterday after an IFE, and was initially requesting to take the Cable , how would he manage that with out something to "Grab " it with? admittedly the hooks on Air Force Fighters are not as Strong as those on Navy Aircraft, as they are only for Emergency use, not everyday use, but they are fitted

[@alfredocortese976]

ok

[@commonsense31]

How the hell did that happen?

[@MrFloppyHare]

De-lamination. Probably just from age/wear. It then de-laminated under load.

[@animalanimal7939]

Boring

[@Mike7478F]

Drama. All in a days work for top jock and USAF.

[@antontalbot9148]

All in a day's work? I take it Yankee planes fall apart in the sky regularly then? 😁😁😁

[@wadewillson6796]

the F16 is not a helicopter its a falcon, the fighting falcon, a viper is a marine helicopter.

[@TheF16fan]

Sorry to correct you here, but thats wrong. Viper is the name given to the F16 by their pilots even before it got named officially. Meanwhile their exists a official US Demonstration team thats called Viper Demo Team and flies a F16.

[@drh705]

@@TheF16fan spot on, I was there on Sunday watching this exact incident and this is the Viper Demo Team, first time I've ever heard a fighting falcon called a viper

[@iriquiosgunship]

Air brakes which deploy all the time.

[@CoyoteRedoak]

The Aircraft shown is an F-16C block 50+ FALCON, sometimes called "The Fighting Falcon". NO F-16 has ever been called a Viper.

[@toddie4usa1]

I beg to differ but it's the name the pilots gave to the jets. FB "expertise" screwed you 🤣

[@TheF16fan]

@@toddie4usa1 exactly :) They gave it the name, even befor it got its offical name.

[@RW-zn8vy]

CoyoteRedoak F-16 has been called the viper for years.